Orange is practicing twice today. It went at 7:45 this morning outside in shells. It will have a second practice tonight in the Carrier Dome.

- The offensive tackles - Nothing has changed. The first two guys out with the first team each day are Corey Chavers and Larry Norton. Jonathan Meldrum did not dress again this morning. Offensive line coach Chris Wiesehan said Meldrum is following a plan devised by Robinson with built in rest for his knee. Wiesehan added that Meldrum's issues are from the neck up. The backup tackles today were Tucker Baumbach and Eugene Newsome. Baumbach missed 15 practices in the spring because of shoulder surgery and is behind. Newsome was on academic suspension and is behind, too. Again, there is rotation taking place throughout the practice. No depth charts have been released. And those positions have not been settled. In fact, Wiesehan said the only starting position on the offense determined is quarterback Andrew Robinson.

- Rule change - Coming out of television timeouts, the play clock will only show 15 seconds as opposed to the normal 25. It's a tweak intended from keeping teams bunched on the sideline along with speeding up the game. Offensive coordinator Brian White made that clear this morning during an offensive team drill. The Orange was signalling plays onto the field from the sideline. When the offensive line tried to gather briefly with White, he shooed them away. "We're not huddling on the sidelines any more because of the clock," he told them.

- Crazy drill of the day - Belonged to the offensive linemen. Assistant Chris Wiesehan called it the "slugger drill." The linemen took their helmets off and paired up. One group got in its normal stance. The other stood with an orange blocking pad cocked against their shoulder like a baseball bat. When Wiesehan blew his whistle, the players with the pads took full swings at their helmetless teammates. The object was for the linemen to get out of their stance and block or deflect the blows. It was rapid fire, so each player got five good swings in.

- Injuries - Tailback Doug Hogue, receiver Donte Davis and defensive end Lee Williams did not dress for practice, but all three were jogging lightly on the side. They were also put through a number of conditioning drills in one end zone. Jermaine Pierce is still missing. Robinson said he's sick and undergoing testing. Mike Stenclik is also on the sidelines.

- Head coach Greg Robinson spent the morning part monitoring the defensive side of the field. He zeroed in on the cornerbacks and safeties. For what it's worth, when the cornerbacks and safeties split into separate groups, Dowayne Davis went with the cornerbacks. Robinson says Davis, a two years starter at strong safety, is not set in stone as a cornerback.

- Freshman wide receiver Da'Mon Merkerson has legs like toothpicks. He also seems to have a place in the rotation of receivers. The Orange can go about six deep. With Davis on the sidelines, Merkerson has stepped into the gap.